The other two are Peter Dart, formerly the worldwide chairman of Enterprise IG; and Jon Steel, a strategic planner in the UK and the US who was most previously with Goodby, Silverstein & Partners. The trio will be on call on a consulting basis to group agencies around the world, underlining WPP's further investment in creative and strategic skills.
French - previously the worldwide creative director of Ogilvy & Mather and more recently with DY&R in a role to try to bolster that agency's creative output - said that his overall mission was to raise the creative reputation of all WPP agencies as well as to focus on solutions. "WPP is completely convinced that now, more than ever, all an agency has to sell is the quality of its thinking. And that ideas, as opposed to just ads, are our stock in trade," said French, who will continue basing himself at DY&R Singapore. French has won some 500 awards in his more than 20 years in the industry, including the 'Best of the best' accolade at Media's 1993 Asian Advertising Awards. He was also presented with a lifetime achievement award at this year's Clio Awards.